Text Analysis of the Conflict in Gaza Reveals the Civilian Impact
Israel-Hamas Conflict, 1 Year Later
Background: 10/7/2023 Hamas surprise attack on Israel.
- Estimated Palestinian dead ~45,000 (66% children & women).
Problem: Hamas Ministry of Health (MoH) casualties, unconfirmed.
- Claim: “Women & children disproportionately killed” UN-OHCHR
Research Question: To what extent can open-source data be used to identify patterns in the targeting of Palestinian civilians in Gaza?
Methodology: Analyzing Civilian Casualties
Data Source: Airwars tracks casualties from conflicts.
Web Scrape: ~ 900 incidents (~11,000 deaths), & store in SQLite database.
Reverse Geo-coding: Query Nominatim API with coordinates, return site type (school, hospital).
Sentiment Analysis: Derive emotional tone from assessments.
- DistilRoBERTa-base, classifies text into Ekman’s 6 basic emotions.
Clustering Analysis: Cluster incidents geographically to discern civilian casualty patterns.
Results: Casualty Rate, Sentiment Analysis
Results: Hierarchical Clustering
